NW Kid Chaser

Many, many moons ago (when he was a bachelor) my husband lived in Spokane. Taking an alternate route home from Yellowstone, we stopped in Spokane to get a glimpse of his old stomping grounds.

I’m not sure exactly what I expected to find in Spokane, but I (honestly) didn’t have particularly high hopes. We pulled into town with hotel reservations and a plan to leave early the next morning. Instead, we stayed past lunch and found a new favorite, downtown hotel and park.

Lodging:Usually when traveling, I look for a hotel with two things: a pool for the boys and a business center for me. After a long day’s drive – I can check my work email, while Dad and boys exhaust themselves in the pool. By 9pm, we’re all happy and tired.

However, when making arrangements in Spokane, our hotel choice was all about location, location, location. Well... location AND price. I wanted a hotel that would allow us to walk to Riverfront Park, but needed a room that would not break the bank.

I found Hotel Ruby through an internet search and decided that to take the risk, fully hoping that “boutique”, “recent remodel”, and “locally-owned” would add up to something interesting.

We weren’t disappointed.

Here are just a few snapshots of the trendy, hip hotel that served as our home away from home.

Riverfront Park: A fabulous public park is like a piece of art. A great park includes a mixture of colors and textures. It often tells a story sparked by a bit of inspiration. The designer must employ time and care in the details of the creation. What joy it was to find that Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane has all these things. Built for Expo ’74 of the World’s Fair, the park has things-to-see, things-to-do, beautiful strolling pathways, and treasures around every bend.

The public art in the park ranges from a gigantic red wagon (slide included), building blocks (see below), a trash eating goat-sculpture (sadly out of order on the day we visited), and a long line of iron men (and women) running in a race. While the playground in the park is very small, the carousel, gondola, suspension bridge, and splash fountain provide more than enough fun to fill the day.